Process of making building elements and the like



Sept 27, 1938. N. P. HARSHBERGER ET A1. 2,131,043

A! Il Original Filed June l2, 1953 .Named PROCESS OF' MAKING BUILDING ELEMENTS AND THE LIKE b/"gj Patented Sept. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PROCESS OF MAKING BUILDING ELEMENTS AND THE LIKE Original application June 12, 1933, Serial No.

675,455. Divided and 1936, Serial No. 79,426

9 Claims.

This invention relates to processes of making building elements having a surface portion providing spring-like characteristics and particularly relates to processes of making cement coated building and siding elements shaped to give a spring action and. provide a surface with a pressure weather seal by stressing its hardened cement coating in assembly, and to processes of making shaped building elements of exible material having hardened cement compression coatings adapted to resist the elastic strains of deformation set up by said shaping and possessing desirable pliable characteristics in a directionl as to increase the deformation and is a division of our copending application Ser. No. 675,455, led June 12, 1933.

It is common knowledge that the ordinary flexible asphalt shingle becomes flabby and raglike during warm weather, that on the roof, in spite of numerous locking means employed, certain portions of these shingles are unsecured and that they readily lift in the Wind. It is also known that the bituminous coating of the shingle, under the action of solar heat and the elements, rapidly loses its volatile constituents with resulting contraction of the coating and subsequent curling of the exposed edges of the shingles. Thereafter, rain may easily drive in under the shingle Weather edges.

Further, in the past it has been customary to start or finish the corner edging of a building with a metal edging strip or flashing, or where it was desired to use exible material similar to that used for the building proper, short at strips were usually bent to the required shape on the job, a process simple enough in warm weather but open to cracking dangers in cold weather unless heat was applied at the line of fold, or in some cases the short strips have been preshaped at the factory. The first use was costly and unattractive, the second method was tedious, required considerable eXtra time to apply, produced unsymmetrical results and could not be handled in long lengths. The third method theoretically was sounder but the formed pieces had a tendency, depending upon their elastic properties, to return to their ilat shapes, this especially in warm weather, and of a group of shaped pieces it is doubted whether any two would have the same shape after bending.

It is therefore the general object of this invention to provide shingle elements with a hydraulic cement coating in which the high compressive strength of the cement may be put to practical advantage to provide pressure edge this application May 13,

contact in assembly and thereby increase the initial resistance of the shingle to curling or winding up and further to provide shaped single thickness elements formed during manufacture and having hardened cementitious coatings providing compression sections resisting any return to the shape of the developed blank and being quite pliable in a direction asv to place the cement coating under tension.

More particularly, the objects of our invention may be enumerated as the provision of:

A shingle having a shaped surface and a hardened coating comprising a hydraulic cement which when laid initially upon a surface will have only edge contact and in which the cementitious coating is placed in compression when the element is flattened out in mounting and in which the forces of said compression are transmitted as a pressure to the exposed edges of the shingles to cause a sealing action to take place.

A pliable shingle element having a low convex longitudinal midsection and a hardened cementitious coating on the outer side of said section resisting the stresses of deformation to maintain said shape.

A pliable shingle element having longitudinal and transverse surface formations of convex curvilinear shape, and a hardened cementitious coating preserving said surface formation.

A process of making and curing shaped building elements having a cementitious strata.

A shingle element having a cementitious coating which is stressed in applying to a roof deck.

A building element comprising a shaped base having a transitory stiifening coating on one of its faces and having upon its other face a hardened cement coating to permanently maintain said shape.

A process of forming shaped elements by which a plurality of pliable shingle elements are coated with a hydraulic cement, placed in a suitable form, pressure applied before the coating has set to give said shingles a shaped formation and thereafter maintaining said formation until the coating on said shingle elements has hardened and cured.

An edging element of substantial length for buildings comprising a flexible mineral coated base shaped to t two intersecting sides of a building and having a hardened hydraulic cement coating preserving said shape.

These and other objects and features of the invention, relating to the improved roofing materal and all its parts and combinations will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out in the glass or granulated petrified materials.

formation while their coatings harden and cure; the shape of said elements being maintained during the period of curing by formed pressure platens;

Fig. 3 shows another shaped element having a surface coating of cement on its outer face wholly above the mineral bond and having a transitory stiening coating on its under face;

Fig. 4 is a cross section through 4 4 of Fig. 5

of an angular shaped element used for building edges and having a partial texture surface;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the element of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of an edging strip for use with shingles to finish and ornament the intersecting sides of a building;

Fig. '7 is a perspective View of an element having a surface formation in which the longitudinal and transverse sections are curved;

Fig. 8 represents a section of a roofing surface to which elements of Figs. 1 or '7 have been applied.

In carrying out the method of making our building elements a continuously moving composition sheet orweb is preferably utilized. For this we employ a suitable exible base 2, for instance, a base made from vegetable bres, wool, asbestos, or hair, alone, in combination or with other materials, which base is treated to resist Water and decay by saturating with a suitable substance, for instance, a low melting point asphalt and thereafter has applied to one or both of its faces an additional adhesive layer, 4 for instance, a high melting point bituminous material such as asphalt or one of a resinous type. To this coating before it has set, is applied and partially embedded a suitable material 6 to form a roughened surface and this may be mineral particles, for instance, crushed brick, gravel, crushed slag, pebbles, crushed slate, coke, crushed It is desirable in order to aid in the prevention of blistering in the finished article after it has been applied on a roof, to have the felt thoroughly dry before saturating and to have any moisture removed from the mineral particles before they are applied to the bituminous or resinous coating.

The mineral particles we have found preferable for use in this invention in order to present a surface structurally adapted for the application of our cement coating have been those of a high porosity, possessive of considerable inherent physical strength, and particularly those of a type whose chemical constituency make them capable of combining with the cementitious substance to form a unified mass, as for instance, mineral particles formed from certain slags.

The slags which we prefer to use have a composition similar to cement and react with water in a similar manner to cement, that is, the alumina and silica minerals of the slag react with water to form hydrated aluminates and silicates. Further when the cement coating is applied, this type of slag reacts more vigorously with water in the presence of the free lime which may be liberated from the cement than it will with other niaterials. We prefer to use slags having ingredients, aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, and iron oxide of less than sixty per cent (better less than fifty per cent) by weight 0f their composition and preferably not less than twenty per cent; and/or slags preferably between thirty and seventy per cent in their calcium oxide and magnesium oxide content and/or slags having an aluminum oxide to silicon oxide ratio of no less than one third by weight.

'Fne mineral particles becauseof their tooth-like projections of irregular contour and their irregular cavities, obtain an excellent grip on the base when they are applied to the adhesive layer and in turn hold the cement coating 8 rmly in place. In both instances the cement and adhesive materials are of a character that will enter the pores of the mineral particles.

The cementitious material we use may be any plaster, lime or magnesia or it may be a hydraulic cement, for instance, a high alumina cement or Ciment Fondu, as Lumnite, ordinary Portland cement as Lehigh, Medusa, high early strength Portland cement as Incor, magnesium cements as magnesium oxylchloride, white cements as White Portland, Medusa or Ferrocrete or slag cements. Further, special cements as Keen cement or Ore cement (Erz Zement) may also be used. It is preferred however to use a hydraulic cement. Such material may be applied forcibly or otherwise over the mineral coated web as a coating in any suitable manner, as for instance, by spraying, by calender rolls, by printing rolls or by dipping. The

coating may be a natural colored cement, colored cement, a' cement mixed with colored pigments or it may be any of these alone, together or mixed as an aggregate with other materials, for instance, clay, diatornaceous earth, marble dust, hair, or asbestos bres. Also, it may be desired to use a waterproof cement or a cement With a resinous addition, for instance, a resinous varnish or emulsion in suitable proportions to Waterproof it.

In any instance, the coating 8 when applied will ll the spaces between the mineral particles and the irregular crevices where a porous particle is used, so that when it sets a product is made in which a cementitious chemical bond exists between the slag particles and surface coating and in which said coating and the adhesive material to which the particles were originally applied will be dovetailed to said particles to produce a structural anchorage. The coating may be of any thickness and may wholly cover the mineral particles. Also the coating may be applied to only a part of the web as desired. Thereafter, before the cementitious coating has fully set and while the coating is yet in a flowable or plastic state, the web is cut into shingle sizes Il) of a desired shape and size and stacked between suitably curved forms l2. Pressure is applied to the stacked elements to give them the arched effect, for instance, that of the shingle section in Fig. 1 and they are thus held until the coating has set and hardened. A group of such elements are shown in Fig. 2 where the elements are held between heavy shaped iron platens I2. There may also be ilexible or rigid separators I4 between the individual elements. The separators may be paper orV thin metal sheets to prevent the elements from adhering to each other and/or heavier metal forms which retain the elements in shape. If desired the web may be cut into individual elements first and the coating then applied prior to stacking. Obviously the means of obment.

taining shaping will be selected with regard to the character and size of the units made. It should be understood that the described methods of shaping are merely illustrative of those preferred- Other processes of producing the formed elements may be employed. For example, it is contemplated to preform the elements by suitable means, for instance, the mineral coated base may be heated, formed to the desired shape and then chilled to have it retain its shape long enough to have the cementitious coating applied and become set. Also, as shown by the element of Fig. 3 a suitable transitory stiifening substance IB such as a starch, may be applied before or after cutting to the back of the web which also may be roughened or possess a mineral coating, and the elements then passed between heated forming rolls from which they will issue in a rigidied and formed condition. Thereafter the cementitious coating may be applied and permittedto harden. 'I'husit will be noted that the cementitious material adjacent the surface portion Vof the element may be positioned before the element is formed or vice versa. The element may be formed after said material is positioned.

When the stacking process is to be employed, in order to prevent sticking of the coating of one element to the back of an adjacent clement a waxy addition may be included in the original saturant or a waxy material in an emulsied state or otherwise may be applied to the back of the elements during their processing as a web. This step may be avoided by the addition to the cement coating of a suitable material, for instance, a synthetic resin or a resinous varnish as Bakelite or Vinylite or glyptals that will rise to the surface of the cementitious coating before it has set, or mineral particles may be utilized that will project above the coating and/or additional particles such as mica or talc may be applied to the front or back of the web. Also, if desired, exible separators having a waxy or other non-adherent surface may loe employed.

Once the cement has Set and hardened, the coating will resist any attempt of the base on its own volition to return to its at position. This is accomplished by taking advantage of the high crushing strength of cement'and by placing the cement at the correct position so that it will be placed under compression by the reactive stresses of deformation set up in the shaping of the ele- This feature of the invention has been particularly utilized in the disclosures of Figs. fl, and 6. Figs. 4 and 5 represent a corner element for siding which is to be used with other flat elements to form an offset brick-like effect. Such a form will save considerable time for the roofer as he has no bending to do and can make a uniform corner brick formation without planning at every corner edge of a building. It is to be noted that while the :ligure shows both legs of the corner piece of substantially the same length simulating half bricks they may also be such that one leg represents a half and the other a full brick o-r both may simulate full bricks. Fig. 6 shows a section of a shaped strip to be used as a corner edge of a building covered with cement coated shingles of any design. It is particularly adapted as a finishing strip in place of present metallic runners and is more easily mounted and adds instead of detracting from the pleasing appearance of the covered surface. It will be obvious that many different forms and shapes may be made by applying this feature of the invention.

While the elements of Figs. 1, 3 and 7 may be formed as previously described, their particular formation constitutes another principle and feature of the invention. It has already been stated that ordinary asphalt shingles are flabby and k easily lift in the wind, and also it has been pointed out that when a cementitious coating has been applied, the element will offer considerable resistance to forces acting to place the coating in compression. In covering a roof surface with elements of the type shown in Fig. 1 if the thickness of coating and amount of arching i3 have been properly selected, the element may, without detrimental effect, be forced into a substantially flat position by applying pressure through the medium of nails I9 or other fastening means preferably at the peak of the arch, which need not be at the center of the shingle but can be toward an edge so that more than half of the shingle may be exposed and yet have the fastening means well covered by an overlying shingle. Fig. 8 shows a side elevation of a lgroup of such elements wherein represents a single element as it appears in position before being flattened. In .the flattening operation the peak section of each element as indicated by the line 9-9 of Fig. 1 is placed in compression and the acting forces will be divided and transmitted to the edges 22 and 24 where equal and opposite reactions will occur and the element will tightly hug and seal these edges of contact. By thus stressing the elements in application a tighter roof will result and their weather ledges will have a greater resistance to winding up by the amount of the pressure created. In fact it will be difficult to pry the butt edge of an element away from the surface with which it is in contact.

In Fig. '7 the feature has been extended. In

Y this instance the element is so shaped that both its longitudinal and transverse sections are placed in compression in assembly. This is accomplished by having both the longitudinal and transverse surface shape follow a curvilinear formation creating the curves 26. 'I'his is particularly advantageous since if the roof has an uneven surface any tendency of placing the cement coating along any of its sections inV tension will be avoided.

From the above description it can readily be seen that we have provided the roofer with elements that will simplify his assembly problems, and produce attractive roong surfaces having greater resistance to the weather. The terms rocng and similar expressions as used throughout the specification and claims are employed in a generic sense and are also intended to cover such other applications as for walls, siding and the like. The details that have been given are for the purpose of illustration, not restriction. It will be evident to those skilled in the art that many changes may be made in the articles described as particularly relates to the materials employed and structures formed, and in the processes relating thereto without departing from the spirit of our invention which is to be construed as broadly as the following claims taken in conjunction with the prior art, may allow.

We claim:

1. A method of making spring type shingle ele-v ments, comprising providing a flexible base, adhesively securing mineral particles to a side of the base, applying a liquid solution comprising a starch to the side opposite the mineral surfacing, forming the base to have a bow-shaped section and setting the starch to temporarily maintain the shape of the element, applying a hydraulic cement coating to the mineral particles and permitting said coating to harden.

2. A method of making spring type shingle elements comprising providing a iieXible base,

adhesively securing a surface roughening material to a side of the base, treating the opposite side of the base with a settable substance, forming the base with a bowV section and setting the settable substance to at least temporarily maintain the bow section, applying a cementitous coating to the surface roughened side and permitting-said cementitious coating to harden.

3. A method of making shaped building elements comprising forming sheet-like unitsincluding plastic ingredients, positioning a face of one of said units against the shaping face of a former, forming a compact grouping of additional units against said first unit while maintaining said iirst unit against the former and arranging all said units in face to face relation, causing all said units to assume the facial contour of the former while thus arranged, and permitting the ingredients to set and harden while retained as a compact group andin such shape.

4. A method of making shaped building elements comprising forming substantially flat sheet-like units including unset plastic ingredients, positioning a face of one of said units against the shaping face of a former, forming a compact grouping of additional units against said first unit while maintaining said rst unit against the former and arranging all said unitsV in face to face relation, substantially simultaneously shaping all said units to the facial contour of said former while thus arranged and before their plastic ingredients have set, and permitting the plastic material to set and harden to a substantially non-softening condition to substantially retain the elements in the formed shape when separated from the grouping.

5. A method of making shaped building elements comprising forming sheet-like units including unset cementitious ingredients, positioning a face of one of said units against the shaping face of a former, forming a compact group of additional units against said first unit while maintaining said first unit against the former and arranging all said units in face to face relation, positioning a second'former against said grouped units and in face to face relation with the endmost unit, said second former having a shaping face complementary to that of the rst former, causing all the units to assume substantially the surface contour of the formers while arranged therebetween, and permitting the plastic ingredients to harden to a non-softening condition to substantially retain the elements in the formed shape.

6. A method of making shaped building elements comprising forming sheet-like units including a facing of plastic ingredients, said units capable of handling without external supporting means, positioning a plurality of said units in face to face relation and between a pair of formers having shaping faces of complementary contour, causing all said units to substantially simultaneously assume the facial contour of the formers while maintained between said formers,

and permitting the plastic facing to harden to a substantially non-softening condition whereby to retain the elements in the formed shape.

7. A method of making bowed shape roofing and siding yelements comprising providing flexible water-resistant bases, stacking said bases in face to face relation and between a pair of formers constituting the top and bottom' of the stack, one of said formers having a concave face in Contact with the stacked elements andthe second having a convex face in Contact with the stacked elements, coating said bases with a composition comprising hydraulic cement before arranging the bases between the formers, causing the formers to impart a bow shape to each element in the stack while thus arranged, and permitting the cement coating to harden to a non-softening condition to retain the elements in the bowed shape when separated from the stack.

8. A method of making bowed spring-type building elements comprising providing a flexible base, bowing and coating said base with a cementitious coating material, said coating being applied as to be upon the outer side of the bowed shape, and said coating being applied in such thickness such that when suiciently set and hardened it will retain the element in the bowed shape without external influence and will permit exing of the element under a force applied in a direction as to cause a reduction in the bowed shape, andpermitting the coating to set and harden to a non-softening state.

9. A process of making shaped building units comprising forming a pliable brous base, treating the base with ingredients adapted to serve as a transitory shape-retaining agent during processing, heat treating the agent and shaping the base to produce a base stiffened in the shaped form, applying a shape-retaining and rigidifying coating to the shaped surface of the base and hardening said coating to a non-softening ccndition whereby to form a shaped unit of shaperetaining character.

NORMAN P. HARSHBERGER. SDDNEY A. OCHS. 

